Wednesday, Nov. 30
Update: Paul Konerko and the White Sox have agreed to a five-year, $60 million deal that will keep the free-agent slugger in Chicago. Sox fans can now exhale.
• Nice world Paulie’s living in. The Baltimore Orioles reportedly offer him $65 million over five years and he says, “No thanks. I don’t like crab cakes.”
The Baltimore Sun also said Konerko’s agent Craig Landis will not make a counter-offer to the O’s. That scraps their Plan B, which was to move their spring training home from Florida to Arizona to accommodate the free-agent slugger.
In all seriousness, we learn Konerko has an arthritic hip, which the Sox have known about for years and is the reason they initially were planning on offering just four yeas. Now they’re willing to go five.
Last we heard of our playoff hero, he was being wined and dined in that great restaurant capital of the West Coast–Anaheim. Along with the free dinner the Angels reportedly offered five years at $60 million.
With the Orioles gone, that leaves only the Angels and Sox, who should be making an offer any day now. Paulie’s got some thinking to do. It’s just a hunch, but the Angels don’t have much more to offer than the Sox, so the needle moves towards staying.
Tuesday, Nov. 29
First Kenny Williams sets a deadline. Then the Angels and Orioles check in with offers. The Konerko watch is heating up.
The Los Angeles Times is reporting that the Angels have checked in with an offer of five years and about $60 million. The Times also said Konerko is expected to be in Anaheim this week and added this item: “Konerko is also said to be very fond of Angel Manager Mike Scioscia and coaches Mickey Hatcher, Ron Roenicke and Alfredo Griffin, all of whom have ties to the Dodgers, the team that selected Konerko in the first round of the 1994 draft.”
The Baltimore Sun, meanwhile, says the Orioles gave Konerko a 4-year, $50 million offer two weeks ago ? and may up that to 5 years and $60 million. One source in the article notes that the O’s are a “long shot” to get Konerko, but Baltimore needs a first baseman and a big bat for the middle of its lineup ? and may be willing to out-bid the Sox and Angels.
In Chicago, new Sox acquisition Jim Thome added recruiter to his job description when he said he’s been trying to get Paulie on the phone and talk to him about staying in Chicago. Said Thome: “He’s a great, great guy and would be a wonderful teammate. I want to be part of that with him.” In that same story, the Chicago Tribune’s Mark Gonzales reported that the Sox are willing to expand their payroll to keep Konerko. Sounds like they’ll have to.
Another Tribune story notes that Konerko’s high school coach believes that Paulie wants to stay in Chicago.
We’ll see. Lots of news but nothing that moves the meter. Verdict: We’re still at undecided.
Saturday, Nov. 26
We learn today that Sox general manager Kenny Williams has set a Dec. 8 deadline to work out a deal to sign Paul Konerko. That’s when baseball’s annual winter meetings come to a close and Williams needs to know by then whether he’ll have the services of the ALCS MVP for next year or will have to look elsewhere, which he already has started to do with the signing of creaky slugger Jim Thome.
What signal does the Thome signing send to Konerko? Is it, “Hey, we don’t need you. This guy hit 89 homers his last two healthy seasons and he hits lefty.” Or is it, “Hey, Paulie, how’d you like to hit in front of Jim Thome? Did we mention he hit 89 homers his last two healthy seasons?” Chances are it’s the latter and the move is pure insurance in the case Konerko skates. But Williams had to do something. Especially with Carlos Delgado, the only other available slugger comparable to Konerko, off to the Mets. It was later revealed that Williams still holds a grudge against Delgado because he nixed a 2004 trading-deadline deal that would have brought him to the Sox from Toronto. Williams never had any intention of going after Delgado.
It’s clearly Konerko’s move right now. But don’t hold your breath. We haven’t heard from the man since he handed the World Series ball to Jerry Reinsdorf and his agent has said they’ll wait until the winter meetings to work out a deal.
However, Bergen Record columnist Bob Klapisch writes Konerko is leaning towards signing with the Angels but gives no proof.
Verdict: We’re back to undecided.
Wednesday, Nov. 23
Looks like the Konerkometer might be stuck on “undecided” for a while. But that’s not for lack of news. In an insightful story in today’s Tribune, Dave Van Dyck reports Konerko and his agent Craig Landis are prepared to wait until after the annual winter meetings the first full week of December.
But there’s much more to this.
This leaves the White Sox in a tough spot. While all sides have agreed that Konerko will test the market first, the Sox have to prepare for the potential loss of their first baseman.
However, now that the Sox have traded for Jim Thome, they can use him as a DH or at first base, depending on what happens with Konerko. Meanwhile, the Associated Press is reporting that the Marlins dealt Carlos Delgado to the Mets.
Orange Country Register columnist Randy Youngman had reported the Angels were now more interested in Delgado than Konerko. That has now changed.
That brings us back to Van Dyck, who writes initial reports of the Angels’ interest in Konerko may have been exaggerated. Rumors of a $60 million offer never materialized.
Meanwhile, Scott Merkin of WhiteSox.com talked to Aaron Rowand at the premiere of the White Sox World Series DVD. Rowand, who also is represented by Landis, said of Konerko:
“I know he wants to be here. I talked to him about it. He loves the city. He loves playing on this team. He likes our clubhouse. If he has his choice, he will be coming back to the White Sox.
“But it is a business and he has to make the best decision for himself and his family.”
Verdict: No movement on the needle, but initial signs appear to be in the White Sox’s favor.
Monday, Nov. 21
If Paul Konerko and his agent are really looking around, they sure are doing it quietly.
Nothing much to move the Konerkometer these days other than the fact he gets mentioned a lot. Scott Merkin on MLB.com answer readers e-mails ? and in one of those answers says he thinks Paulie will be back with the Sox next year.
And Adam Reich on CBSSportsline wrote a do-don’t list for the Angels; signing Konerko was the first thing he wrote that the Angels should do.
Paulie is also getting mentioned in stories talking about Jim Thome’s future with the Phillies. One from the Philadelphia Inquirer suggests that maybe the Sox could have both Thome and Konerko, with Konerko at first and Thome at DH.
None of which, of course, tells us what uniform Konerko will be wearing next year. Maybe no news is good news.
Tuesday, Nov. 15
All’s quiet on the Konerko front today, but we’re quietly happy to see that the Yankees are ponying up the big bucks to keep Hideki Matsui. If he gets $50 million, how much would the Evil Empire have left to steal Konerko from the Sox? They can’t give everybody that kind of money, can they?
Can they?
Still there is Konerko news out there. Pete Alfano of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram said he thinks Konerko was slighted in the MVP voting. And the South Bend Tribune has a story on the guy who caught Konerko’s grand slam homer in Game 2 of the series. Plus, former ChicagoSports.com staffer Scott Merkin writes in his mailbag on MLB.com that among the 144 questions he got about the Sox, more than a third are concerning Paulie’s future.
We’re concerned too, but there’s no news. No visits have been reported, no rumored signings, no rumored offers.
Which feels like good news today.
Monday, Nov. 14
Nothing doing on the Paul Konerko front this morning. All sides are silent. Except, of course, the media.
• Steve Phillips on ESPN Insider lists Konerko as the off-season’s top free agent. He also predicts he’ll end up in Boston.
• Speaking of the Red Sox, reporter Ian Browne on the team’s official site opens up his mailbag. The fourth question deals with Konerko. The answer is a bit wishy-washy.
Saturday, Nov. 12
The first day of Paul Konerko’s free-agent life passed without any offers. His agent, however, told the Tribune’s Dave van Dyck that media reports of the White Sox’s offering the slugger a 4-year, $52 million deal were false.
“Totally incorrect,” agent Craig Landis said. “The White Sox have not made an offer of any kind.”
Landis also hinted, with as many as 10 teams involved, this dance could last a week or two.
• Meanwhile, the Tribune’s other fine baseball reporter, Phil Rogers, writes that if the White Sox are unable to re-sign Konerko, other available options could be Jim Thome and Carlos Delgado.
Thome, you’ll recall, played just 59 games last season because of elbow surgery. While he sat the future took over. Prospect Ryan Howard supplanted Thome at first and played so well he won the NL Rookie of the Year award.
Delgado, on the other hand, is two years younger than Thome at 33 and hit .301 with 33 home runs and 115 RBIs for the Florida Marlins last season.
Verdict: Stuck on undecided.
Friday, Nov. 11
The White Sox window to negotiate exclusively with Konerko is closed. As expected nothing was signed. Konerko will now test the market and teams will now line up and throw offers at him in $50-million range. Must be nice.
• The Tribune’s Rick Morrissey writes today that he’d cap his offer to Konerko at $52 million over four years. If other teams “want to give him $15 million or more per year, bless them.
“And if Konerko wants that much money, wish him well and let him go.”
• Los Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, long rumored to be the team most interested in Konerko, are set to make the man an offer, according to an Orange Country Register story (registration required). From what people are writing in the OC and other places, it appears owner Arte Moreno is prepared to throw some serious cash at the slugger’s feet–reportedly more than $40 million for more than four years. Remember the White Sox reportedly offered him a four-year, $52 million deal, which Konerko’s agent Craig Landis denied.
• A Philadelphia Daily News story (reg. required) about Jim Thome’s future included this line and quote from White Sox GM Kenny Williams:
“If Chicago is unable to keep first baseman Paul Konerko, which is beginning to appear increasingly possible, the Sox will be in the market for a replacement.”
‘Sometimes you have to be a little creative, go a little out-of-the-box to get it done,’ White Sox general manager Kenny Williams said. ‘If we don’t have Paul, it’s not like [shortstop] Juan Uribe or [third baseman] Joe Crede are going to catch the ball and it will go in the stands because no one’s there to catch it. Somebody will be there. We’ll figure it out.'”
• A New York Daily News story about the Mets included this throw-away ‘graph:
“Free agent Paul Konerko, who was the MVP of the ALCS for the White Sox, could be another option for the Mets as a middle-of-the-order bat. [Omar] Minaya was seen talking to Craig Landis, Konerko’s agent, at the GM meetings in Indian Wells, but Konerko appears to be a longshot for the Mets.”
• The verdict: It’s too early to say which way Paulie leans.
Compiled by Adam Caldarelli
